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Van Noy is so (Van)noying
College football guru Phil Steele has been revealing the 11 different covers of his annual College Football Preview magazine, each one dedicted to a different region or conference around the nation. Among the regions and conferences Steele Publications will feature on its covers in 2013 are the Pac-12, the SEC, the East Coast and the state of Alabama. Yes, Roll Tide and War Eagle get their own cover.
Utes football is conspicuously absent from the Pac-12 cover, but BYU's Kyle Van Noy is displayed on it in a small inset box. Given that BYU is in no way affiliated with the Pac-12, the cover is confusing at best.
"The problem is we really don’t have a set cover for BYU players to be featured on," Brandon M. Pertner, an assistant editor for Phil Steele publications, told the Deseret News in an email, "so we decided to include him on our Pac-12 cover, which in the past has been exclusively for Pac-12 players only."
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham could easily interpret the inclusion of Van Noy and the omission of a Utah man from the cover as a slight to the program, but he likely is not. If he cares at all, Whittingham might be grateful for the cover because it gives him one more tool with which he can motivate his team this fall, not just against BYU — as if they needed to be motivated to play the Cougars — but against the entire Pac-12.
Utah's football team is preparing for its third Pac-12 season, and the Utes' conference schedule has never been more difficult. What better to motivate the Utes against the likes of USC, UCLA and Stanford than extra bulletin board material demonstrating that the national media favors the opponent?
According to Utah football lore, Urban Meyer used local and national media to motivate his team to a 2004 Fiesta Bowl win, and Whittingham again used press clippings to motivate his team to a Sugar Bowl win in 2008 over heavily favored Alabama.
Indeed, disrespect on a national scale has been a great tool in the Utah coaching staff's arsenal over the last 20 years and has served up some priceless moments along the way, as well. What Utah fan didn't revel in Barry Switzer's premium serving of crow during the 2009 Sugar Bowl halftime and postgame shows?
If Whittingham did successfully use this magazine cover as a very small part of a much larger coaching strategy to motivate his team to Pac-12 wins and a Rose Bowl berth, Utah fans will have witnessed the magnum opus of his collegiate head coaching career.
As Josh Lucas said while portraying Texas Western head basketball coach Don Haskins in the 2006 film "Glory Road," "Shut them up. Win."
C's only get degrees at other schools
Among the assets coaches across the nation use when recruiting athletic talent to their programs is the strength of the academic programs at the university.The Utes saw the promises of several university coaches pay off last week as many student-athletes received their degrees.
What might come as a surprise to some, however, is that an important member of Utah's stable of running backs is beyond a bachelor's degree. Lucky Radley is well on his way to a master's degree in exercise and sports science.
"I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that with having a significant role on the football team. I didn’t know if I wanted to put myself through that," Radley told the Deseret News. "It’s tough. It’s not easy. But I just challenged myself, and I’m going to get it done."
Radley uses the summer semester to make serious strides in his collegiate education, exercising the work ethic he has gained playing football in the classroom.
“He has a motto. He said, ‘I’m just going to keep chipping away,’ and that’s what he does,” retired football coach John Pease told the Deseret News. “Whatever you ask him to do, his work ethic is off the chart.”
If his effort in the classroom is any indication of how he'll produce on the gridiron this year, Utah's offensive backfield is in good hands.
Cue the "Rocky" music
Reggie Dunn is shooting for the stars. After posting one of the best performances in the NFL pre-draft evaluation period, NFL teams passed on Dunn in the draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers, however, quickly picked him up as a free agent.
The challenge of making an NFL squad despite not getting the benefit of the doubt is a welcome and familiar situation for the Utah record-holder of kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single season. Dunn is optimistic; he said he believes one of the most valuable skills a returner can have cannot be tested in a combine.
"I have to say my first two steps are explosive, but for me, I think the key would have to be my speed and then translating that with my vision,” Dunn told the Deseret News. “Obviously I’m fast, but (vision) isn’t something you can test at the combine. It’s something you see on film, how a guy sees a hole. I can see the field great and move fast at the same time."
Certainly, Cal and Colorado's (former) head coaches would say the same.
Landon Hemsley is the sports content manager for DeseretNews.com. He occasionally contributes to KSL.com. Email: lhemsley@deseretnews.com. Twitter.com/EarlOfHemsley
